Osceola County Highpoint Trip Report
Date: August 5, 2007
Author: Cliff Young
I have put together a little (3-question) quiz for those who seek to reach the
County Highpoints.
1) What's it like to go highpointing in Florida in August?
- a - Something everybody should be dying to experience for themselves.
- b - The cool breezes coming off the ocean reach all the way across the peninsula
and make for a very pleasant experience.
- c - Temperature of 97 with a heat index of 105 make it next to lethal to even
get out of your air conditioned car.
- d - Nobody would ever be dumb enough to HP in Florida in August so we'll never know.
2) What happened to the Osceola County Highpoint?
- a - The top blew off it in a volcanic eruption much like Mount Saint Helens a
few years back.
- b - Nothing, it's still in the brushy field beyond the orchard.
- c - It's got several pieces off heavy equipment sitting on it. Said earthmoving
equipment have been busy removing the high point.
- d - Upon realizing it was a county high point the Florida Department of
Conservation has purchased it;
turning it into a park to be enjoyed by future County Highpointers in perpetuity.
3) What is the highpoint of Osceola County, Florida?
Unfortunately I couldn't tell you the answer to this last question.
For questions 1 and 2 I've gone with that old Navy tradition - when in doubt pick "C".
As of today the orchard is gone, the brushy field is gone, and some amount of
elevation has been removed. The area north of the road is being made into a
golf course including everything from Route 27 East. There is not a tree, bush,
and almost no vegetation in the entire area. South of the road is a ditch about
12 feet wide and 6 to ten feet deep which I have no idea what it's for.
South of the ditch the land has been contoured for what I assume is to be a future fairway.
The highest point today was in the same place as the CoHP spot on the
website when opened with the Topozone link. There is certainly nothing south of
that spot that is as high. I got a reading of 204 feet at this spot by GPS but
do not trust the elevation on GPS (especially el-cheapo models like mine) units
to claim that as the exact elevation. Looking at the topo map the road crests
at 215+ feet and the embankment that was highest was maybe a foot or two higher
than the road. In my opinion (remember this is the opinion of someone who would
visit County Highpoints in Florida in August), the twenty foot contour is
completely gone but some of the 215 contour remains leaving the highest "known"
point in the county at the original location.
I do not know if there are any other 215+ points in the county but, if there
are, it might be a good idea to visit them. Meanwhile I am painting the county
blue until the truth be known.
You would think one CoHP in Florida in August would be enough to teach even the
most determined CoHPer a valuable lesson. You'd be wrong. I found no changes
in either Indian River or Brevard County. I do recommend visiting Brevard on a
Sunday though. Plenty of parking at the High Point Office Building.